COPENHAGEN Danish brewer Carlsberg said on Friday it had signed an agreement to sell its Russian business but did not name the buyer or the agreed price for the transaction, which is subject to an extensive regulatory review by Moscow.

Carlsberg, the Western brewer most exposed to Russia, said last year it expected a writedown of about 9.9 billion Danish crowns ($1.45 billion) from a sale of the business, which came as a direct result of the invasion of Ukraine.

The sales agreement will not impact Carlsberg's 2023 earnings expectations, the company said in a statement on Friday.

Carlsberg had said in March this year that it expected to announce a sale of the Russian business by June and has also said it was seeking an option to buy back the Russian business in the future.

($1 = 6.8492 Danish crowns)

(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik)